When Hayato came back to his senses and opened his eyes again, at some point, the four of them had already appeared in a dark, secluded forest.
"Is this the Duel Monsters World?" Hayato touched his chest, lamenting that he'd forgotten to bring his magenta-colored camera today.
Joey touched his arm in disbelief. "Is this really a game world? It feels just like my own body! Ow, that hurts!"
Watching Joey pinch himself until tears welled up, Yugi looked around, speechless. From the humid air and the feel of the wind, to the rustling of leaves, this place was indistinguishable from the real world.
"This is what's called a 'fully immersive' Game," Mokuba explained enthusiastically. "All information that the human body can receive—be it touch, smell, sight, hearing, or even taste—is perfectly simulated by electronic data. In other words, it's the Second World." He continued, "If we can continue to develop this Game further, perhaps even deceased humans could live here."
"They can even do something like that? That's too much, that Kaiba guy," Joey said, somewhat disbelieving. After all, the idea that even deceased people could live here wasn't something everyone could easily accept.
"Well, there's one thing you've misunderstood. My brother didn't design this world," Mokuba said, his tone a bit subtle. "This Game, or rather, the foundation of this Game's design—the Virtual World—was actually completed before KaibaCorp transitioned."
"Before KaibaCorp transitioned? I remember KaibaCorp was an arms dealer back then, wasn't it?" Yugi asked, puzzled. Why would a weapons company be involved in something like this? Could it be to simulate war for soldiers using the Virtual World?
"Who knows? Maybe it's for the deceased. Didn't Mokuba say that even dead people can continue to live in this world?" Hayato said meaningfully, hinting at the deeper implications of the Virtual World. "But there's no end to discussing such matters. Our top priority right now is to rescue Kaiba."
While talking, Hayato and the others didn't forget to keep moving forward. As they spoke, they arrived at the edge of a cliff. Looking down, they saw a desolate Graveyard below, with tombstones lying haphazardly on the ground. Coupled with the faint mist shrouding the Graveyard, it gave off an unsettling, eerie feeling.
"Everyone, be careful. This world is designed based on Duel Monsters, a 'Dragon Quest' type of story," Mokuba warned, raising a mechanical device on his left hand. "The path ahead doesn't look simple; there might be some Monsters."
Yugi and Joey raised their hands and found similar devices on their own wrists. Their previously loaded Decks were also placed inside the devices, ready for drawing. Above the Deck was a long scoreboard displaying the number "4000". Mokuba didn't need to explain; both of them instantly guessed that this was probably their Life Points in this Game.
Just then, a significant commotion erupted from the Graveyard they had seen earlier. The ground cracked open, and decayed arms reached out one after another. Countless Zombie-like Monsters crawled out from beneath the tombstones.
"(*Skull Servant*), (*Armored Zombie*), (*Giant Mummy*), and (*Dragon Zombie*)?" Joey recalled some unpleasant memories. "Are all the Monsters here Zombie-Type Duel Monsters? Hmph, Joey the Great won't be scared of you again!"
"Why did Joey say 'again'?" Mokuba asked, puzzled.
Yugi explained to him, "During the Duelist Kingdom tournament, someone kidnapped Joey and Dueled him in a terrifying cave full of skeletons, using Zombie-Type Monsters. I remember Joey thought he had gone to the Underworld and was really scared."
"Don't bring that up, Yugi!" Joey's face flushed red as he turned his gaze to the Zombie army climbing towards them. "Hey, Mokuba, how do I use these Cards? After I draw them, where do I place them? There's no Duel Field here!"
"After you draw a Card, you have to loudly call out its name, or else the Card won't respond to you," Mokuba said. "According to our research, the main target audience for this electronic Game is young people aged 16 to 30. This method of calling out a Monster's name before it Attacks maximizes their enthusiasm for the Game."
Joey nodded, drawing the top Card from his Deck, which was (*Flame Swordsman*). "Alright, let's go, [Fla—"
"(*V-to-Z*), full power!"
Joey had just raised his Card above his head, not even finishing its name, when he saw an incredibly thick beam cannon fire from not far beside him, blasting into the Zombie-infested Graveyard. Accompanying the beam were countless lasers and homing missiles.
Standing next to the (*VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon*), Hayato watched with satisfaction as the gigantic robot behind him razed the entire Graveyard with its firepower, then nodded.
In this Game, one also had to follow the basic principles of Monster Summoning. To Summon a Fusion Monster, one first had to Summon its Materials. So, while Joey and the others were chatting, Hayato had already pre-Summoned the five VWXYZ machines and then Combined them into the invincible (*V-to-Z*).
Yugi and Joey were somewhat dumbfounded. They were just Fodder Monster Zombies with less than 2000 ATK; was it really necessary to Summon (*V-to-Z*)? Besides, Hayato, your Monster Summoning speed is too fast! We haven't even had time to Summon a single Monster, and you've already dealt with all of theirs?
"No, that's not right!" Mokuba noticed something amiss in the Graveyard, which Hayato's (*V-to-Z*) had been bombarding. Even though it had been blasted to smithereens by powerful firepower, under Mokuba's gaze, a single (*Skull Servant*) quickly Revived into a complete entity from just a few bone fragments, and its ATK even increased.
The Zombie-Type Monsters here actually increase their ATK when Destroyed?!
Mokuba was about to warn Hayato about this, but Hayato already knew this would happen. "Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! Before my (*V-to-Z*), you are mere Zombie-Types. Watch as I completely obliterate you!"
The firepower of (*V-to-Z*) suddenly intensified. The recently Revived Zombies, merely grazing the suddenly thicker laser beam, were completely erased without a trace, their ability to Revive utterly severed.
The most powerful aspect of these Zombies was that after being Destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, they would Revive and increase their ATK. However, their weakness was that they had no abilities if they were Banished, and their DEF was universally 0. Coincidentally, the (*VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon*) had two Effects: one to Banish directly, and another to freely determine the ATK and DEF of the attacked Monster.
Under the 'unscrupulous' barrage of firepower, Hayato plowed through this Graveyard five or six times, the ground forcibly lowered by about a meter. The once messy Graveyard was completely cleared, becoming perfectly flat.
"Ha-Hayato," Joey said, looking hesitantly at the giant robot standing on the ground behind Hayato, "this is supposed to be a classic Western-style world, right? Don't you think Machine-Type Monsters are a bit out of place?"
"Hmph, you don't understand. I'm bringing the blessings of modernization to these people steeped in feudalism, telling them times have changed." Hayato snapped his fingers, commanding (*V-to-Z*) to continue its advance. "Let's go, we're off to rescue Kaiba!"
*No, you'll easily accidentally kill Kaiba like that!* Yugi and the other two silently grumbled behind Hayato, who was commanding (*V-to-Z*) to clear a path by blasting the forest in their way.
Claimed 30 Stones for a 10-pull, got Illya. FGO closed.
(End of Chapter)